Live Streams & Broadcasts

Can’t make it to Mardi Gras in New Orleans or prefer to view the action from the comfort of your living room? Enjoy comprehensive coverage of Fat Tuesday and more on TV and online.

Get your fix of eyeball kicks

Camel Toe Steppers strutting in the Krewe of Muses parade

Thanks to a feast of streams and broadcasts, revelers can get their Mardi Gras fix from most any internet-connected device.

Parades are streamed live by NOLA.com’s Parade Cam and WWLTV. In any given year, moreover, local TV stations might provide live coverage of events like the Endymion Samedi Gras Festival, the Zulu Lundi Gras Festival and the annual meeting of the courts of Rex and Zulu along the Mississippi River on Lundi Gras, with Rex and his entourage arriving via rail and Zulu’s queen and king arriving by boat. For a list of live cams operating at specific locations, click here.

Check WWL’s Eye on Carnival for a schedule of parades to be streamed live on wwltv.com (times and dates subject to change due to weather). Parades are broadcast from Gallier Hall and thus streaming is likely to commence at least 75 minutes after start time (more like a couple of hours for Endymion). Known as Streetcar Cam outside of the Carnival season, Parade Cam catches parades earlier on the main route, as they turn off Napoleon Ave. onto St. Charles Avenue.

Live streaming Mardi Gras parades

Could Virtual Reality Mardi Gras parade experiences be in the offing?

Local network affiliates WWL, WDSU and WVUE begin wall-to-wall live coverage of Fat Tuesday festivities before sunrise, while community radio station WWOZ, attuned to the more subcultural side of the festivities, presents a live video stream from various locales. PBS affiliate WYES offers a live broadcast of the Rex Ball and the meeting of the courts of Rex and Comus, which began in 1882 when the court of Rex paid a visit to the court of Mistick Krewe of Comus at the French Opera House. The ornate proceedings culminate in a blaze of glittering scepters and other finery, as Rex and Comus escort each other’s queens in a grand march around the ballroom. Hosted by Carnivalistas Peggy Scott Laborde and Errol Laborde, the coverage also features live interviews and pre-produced segments, including “up-close-and-personal” visits with Rex and the Queen of Carnival. As the pre-Lenten season of frivolity kicks into gear, Steppin’ Out, WYES’ weekly program on New Orleans arts and entertainment, stokes the Mardi Gras spirit with commentary, interviews and previews about what’s noteworthy and new. WYES also is the go-to outlet for an impressive parade of in-house and independently produced documentaries illuminating Mardi Gras in all its permutations.